Letters to the Editor, Jan. 4

San Francisco Chronicle

January 3, 2017

Regarding “A monumental legacy” (Editorial, Jan. 3): The Chronicle was on the right side of history and so was President Obama when he again remained true to the proud and traditionally bipartisan legacy of land conservation under the Antiquities Act. The Bears Ears and Gold Butte National Monuments richly deserved protection, for conservation, cultural and environmental justice reasons. Let’s hope the president again adheres to that legacy in his final weeks as mentioned in your fine editorial. It is important to note, that once so designated, the federal land management agencies entrusted with the stewardship of these monuments to the American West by the American people will need help in providing that stewardship of these public lands.

Accordingly, as we have done so for many years here in the Golden State and throughout the west, the Student Conservation Association pledges itself and the youth and young adults we work with, to undertake the hands-on, boots-on-the-ground work that is required to manage these lands — be it trail maintenance, habitat restoration or biological inventory and monitoring. We too will remain committed to the possibilities afforded by The Antiquities Act.

Does anyone believe that the Democrat’s epic fail in the last election was caused by the Democratic National Committee emails that Washington claims were released by the Russians?

Now this story is being presented as a national security threat, but the real threat is the Democrats’ refusal to look at who they have become over the last 40 years. Whether or not the emails significantly influenced the vote, they do offer a clear picture of the “soul” of the DNC, and it’s ugly. It’s the main reason a carnival barker will move into the White House later this month.

Melissa Murphy, El Cerrito

Moral placement

Regarding “Religion scholar’s research embraced psychedelic realm” (Jan. 3): The passing of Huston Smith and the placement of his obituary on the last page of the paper’s “A” section, gives some clarity to our nation’s current political and moral situation, and what we deem important as a people.

The passing of many celebrities in 2016 garnered front page and live media coverage over many days, while the passing of a major intellect and proponent of religious tolerance and the history of religion, barely makes the front section of the paper. Why then, should anyone be surprised that we elected a television personality focused on self promotion and celebrity, as our president? To quote President-elect Donald Trump, “very sad.”

Stephen Gelman, Moraga

Strengthen party

Regarding “Priority for 2017 — protecting democracy” (Jan. 2): I agree with E.J. Dionne Jr. that protecting and strengthening democracy in the U.S. should be the top priority in the coming year. However, simply opposing the actions of Donald Trump is not the way to go about it. A better course is to repair the sorry political process that gave us President-elect Trump in the first place. The first step in that course is to acknowledge that the Democratic Party did not act very democratically during the last election.

It may have been nefarious Russian hackers who exposed those private emails, but it was the true and ugly inner workings of the Democratic Party itself that were laid bare. In order to have a government that represents us, we must first have political parties that represent us. Serious reform of the Democratic Party is the best thing we can do right now to strengthen our democracy.

Pat Ford, San Francisco

Lack of ethics

How thoughtful of House Republicans to show, in their very first vote of 2017, who and what they are. By leaping to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, they have demonstrated immediately, directly and unequivocally that their first and only real interest is in self-enrichment and self-aggrandizement without the nuisance of being held accountable.

Even Donald Trump, somewhat surprisingly, got this one right and urged them to withdraw their action — for now. Not, of course, because it was wrong, but because other priorities should come first. Rest assured, this insidious initiative will resurface later in a quieter and less attention-getting manner.

Alan Heineman, San Francisco

Fire Jed York

Thanks to Ann Killion for being one of the few in the media to regularly point out the main reason for the decline of the 49ers is Jed York and the York family ownership. Most of her colleagues (especially in radio and TV), continue their sycophantic treatment of York, consistently failing to point out that the emperor has no clothes. In 2014, York said to hold him responsible. Apparently, to him that means firing people. Today, he said he’s the owner and you don’t dismiss owners. Well, he isn’t the owner; his mother is. She should take him at his word and hold him responsible by removing him as CEO of the team and replacing him with a competent adult.

Of course, this would mean taking back the toy you gave him to play with, but he can entertain himself for the rest of his life with all the money he’s fleeced from the faithful.

Edward Chmelewski, San Francisco

Stressful media

Regarding “Stress is making our children ill — here is how we can reduce it” (Open Forum, Jan. 3): It’s surprising that new South Bay Rep. Ro Khanna in his Open Forum piece failed to address the biggest modern culprit contributing to U.S. teens’ anxiety: social media. According to a 2015 report by Common Sense Media, the average American teenager spends nine hours per day using their cell phones, tablets, and laptops for instant messaging, video gaming, watching or posting videos and other related activities. That’s more time than is spent at school, with family or sleeping. Though Khanna may propose reducing homework or later starting times as ways to reduce students’ stress, he first ought to encourage parents to reduce children’s “screen time.”

Priscilla Massey, San Francisco

Cheap solution

Regarding “The restless quest for a good night’s sleep” (Jan. 3): While the field of sleep technology might be attracting big investors with devices to monitor and analyze America’s insomniacs, might I recommend a good old-fashioned remedy for this problem?

It’s a warm glass of milk (with honey or nutmeg if you prefer), which contains sleep-inducing tryptophan. It costs a lot less than any technology-related instrument, and works much better than counting sheep!

Edmund McCullers, San Jose

Rule changes

I get so tired of people wanting to change the election rules after the election is over as if the rules did not affect voting at all. If you wanted to go by popular vote and not the Electoral College, the rules should have been changed before the election. People voted based on the rules and quite likely, turnout and voting patterns would have been much different if the popular voter was the deciding factor.

All we heard about was swing states and voters in states with a large majority for one candidate or the other did not see their vote as important. No one can say the popular vote would have been the same and just want to change the rules to fit their agenda.